1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of dental hygiene and, more specifically, to an improved dental floss device and applicator assembly for flossing the teeth.
2. Background Information
Conventional methods employed to floss the teeth encounter several problems. One such problem is the inability to easily hold dental floss without getting one's fingers and hands wet, cutting off the blood circulation in the fingers, or being able to reach the teeth far back into the mouth. A variety of devices have been suggested in the prior art to facilitate the handling of dental floss to remove food particles, plaque, and tartar from teeth. Dental floss is normally held in the hands and moved by the fingers to insert the dental floss in between two adjacent teeth. Prior art devices, such as the Miller U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,470the Sanders et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,625, the De La Hoz U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,824, the McKenzie U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,501, and the Haung U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,315 have suggested various ways for using dental floss.
The Miller '070 patent discloses a dental floss holder and applicator assembly that uses handles which have a strand of dental floss secured to the handles through the use of a slot that extends the length of the handles. The Sanders '625 patent discloses a disposable buccal hygienic device that can be separated into two separate ends which are connected by a strand of dental floss. The De La Hoz '824 patent discloses a dental floss device that has two separate flat dental floss securing rings that are connected by a strand of dental floss. The McKenzie '501 patent discloses the use of a pair of separate handles connected to a loop of dental floss, which is attached to the handles by either looping and gluing the strands of floss through holes located at the end of each handle, or by tying or stapling the floss strand ends to the handles. The Haung '315 patent discloses a dental floss assembly having a holder portion having a chamber for storing dental floss, a locating member mounted on the holder portion, and a holding member that is mounted on the locating member, with the holding member having a strand of dental floss mounted thereon. The Huang '315 patent device includes the use of a pin to change the angle of the holding member with respect to the locating member.
Prior art devices, which include the above-mentioned, require the user to manually insert or attach the dental floss strand to the respective holder devices to allow the user to floss his or her teeth. Further, the prior art devices require the user to either dispose of the dental floss holder or to press down on the holder to change the angle of a dental floss holding member with respect to a locating member.
In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects there is a need for a dental floss device and applicator assembly that allows individuals to quickly and easily engage a strand of dental floss without having to manually tie or attach the strand to the device. There is also a need for a dental floss device and applicator assembly which includes two handles, with each handle having a connecting end that is pushed or stabbed against a dental floss strand to anchor and engage the dental floss strand in place allowing the user to insert the dental floss in place for cleaning the spaces between the teeth.